Written Answers Thursday 27 July 2006

Scottish Executive

Courts

Richard Lochhead (Moray) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what progress is being made in respect of raising the current limit on the value of claims that can be made under the small claims court procedure; with whom agreement on a new limit must be reached, and whether it will give reasons for any delay in making the necessary changes.

Hugh Henry: We have had a number of discussions with a wide range of interested stakeholders in considering the related questions of the appropriate level of the small claims limit, the summary cause limit and the privative limit of the Sheriff Court, above which actions can be raised either in the Sheriff Court or the Court of Session.

  It is for Members of the Parliament to set the appropriate levels, on consideration of Orders laid in draft by Ministers.

  Our consideration of the issue requires us to balance competing issues. These include issues around access to a simplified court procedure but one in which legal aid is not available and freedom for pursuers to litigate in the court of their choice against the costs for defenders in being forced to defend cases in the Court of Session as opposed to the more local sheriff court. As part of that balancing exercise, we have proposed that personal injury cases are exempted from the small claims procedure.

  We accept that the case is made for an increase in all three of these levels and are considering where we can properly strike the balance in proposing the new levels.

Courts

Mr Jamie Stone (Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will undertake an investigation into why the Crown Office did not provide adequate translation facilities at Wick Sheriff Court on 26 June 2006, which resulted in the sheriff dismissing the case against a Polish defendant.

Colin Boyd QC: The Procurator Fiscal Depute at Wick instructed an interpreter from an agency which is regularly used by COPFS, the Sheriff Clerk and the Police. The interpreter was instructed to assist three prosecution witnesses, who speak Polish, for a trial at the Sheriff Court in Wick on 26 June 2006.

  The Sheriff Clerk instructed an interpreter to assist the accused – who speaks Polish.

  Both interpreters attended for their respective assignments in this trial.

  Having regard to the possibility that a miscarriage of justice could have occurred due to possible errors in interpreting the witnesses’ evidence, it was appropriate for the Procurator Fiscal Depute to invite the Sheriff to desert the case for the time being with the intention to bring the case again at a later date.

  The Sheriff decided to dismiss the case outright, based on a number of factors.

  The circumstances of this case were very unusual and do not often occur.

  COPFS has asked for a report from the agency which provided the interpreter and is in discussions with the agency to ensure that such difficulties do not arise again.

  Independently, COPFS is currently reviewing the arrangements by which interpreting services are provided in relation to prosecution in Scotland.

Courts

Mr Jamie Stone (Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive whether any cases have been dismissed in the last five years as a result of the lack of adequate translation services, other than the case dismissed at Wick Sheriff Court on 26 June 2006.

Colin Boyd QC: The prosecutor is responsible for translation of documents served on the accused and on witnesses (and written information provided to victims through the VIA service) and interpretation of information for prosecution witnesses and in some circumstances for family members in cases involving a crime-related death.

  The COPFS Computer System (the PROMIS Case Tracking System) does not record the reason why cases are dismissed, either outright "deserted simpliciter", or dismissed for the time being "deserted pro loco et tempore".

  The information sought is not held centrally by Scottish Courts Service.

Courts

Mr Jamie Stone (Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what arrangements have been made to provide translation services during court cases where some or all of those involved do not speak English.

Colin Boyd QC: Translation relates to the written word. Interpreting relates to the spoken word.

  The prosecutor is responsible for translation of documents served on the accused and on witnesses (and written information provided to victims through the VIA service) and interpretation of information for prosecution witnesses and in some circumstances for family members in cases involving a crime-related death.

  If it is known that a victim’s first language is not English, Procurators Fiscal are required to arrange for the translation of all of the routine and case progress information normally issued in the course of an investigation and prosecution to accused, witnesses, victims and bereaved next of kin in crime- related deaths.

  In general, it is considered inappropriate for Procurators Fiscal to commission translation of productions for the defence because legal aid is available to the accused for interpreting and translation work and an interpreter will be provided for the accused at every court diet.

  The role of the interpreter in the criminal court is crucial. The Procurator Fiscal, the Scottish Court Service and the police will ensure, so far as possible, that interpreters are engaged through recognised interpreting services and that interpreters engaged have appropriate qualifications and experience.

  COPFS has an agreed protocol with the Association of Chief Police Officers Scotland (ACPOS) and the Scottish Court Service, setting out the arrangements for instruction of interpreters.

  It is the responsibility of the police to advise the Procurator Fiscal in the police report whether the accused or any proposed prosecution witness requires the services of an interpreter to give evidence in court. The reporting officer should specify the language and dialect required.

  It is the responsibility of the Procurator Fiscal to engage a suitably qualified and experienced interpreter, skilled in the language and dialect specified in the police report, to assist prosecution witnesses in giving their evidence.

  In all cases where accused are appearing for the first time from custody the police will, so far as possible, arrange, on behalf of the Scottish Court Service, for a suitably qualified and experienced interpreter to appear at court to assist the accused.

  In respect of all other criminal court diets, it is the responsibility of the Scottish Court Service to engage a suitably qualified and experienced interpreter, skilled in the language and dialect required to assist the accused.

Courts

Mr Jamie Stone (Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive on how many occasions translation services have been provided in courts in the last year for which records are available, broken down by (a) court and (b) language requiring translation.

Colin Boyd QC: Responding to this question involves collation of considerable information. This information is currently being gathered from all geographical Areas within COPFS and I will write to you when it is available. A copy of the information will be placed in the Parliament’s Reference Centre (Bib. number 40144).

Fire Safety

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many faulty (a) fire extinguishers and (b) smoke alarms were identified in schools in the each of the last five years.

Hugh Henry: This information is not held centrally.

Fire Safety

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many fires there were in (a) primary and (b) secondary schools in each of the last 10 years, broken down by local education authority.

Hugh Henry: The information is not available in the format requested.

  The number of fires in schools (both primary and secondary) is shown in the following table by fire and rescue service area.

  

Brigade
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
20021
20031
2004


Central
9
5
5
4
10
10
4
0
21
12


Dumfries
2
11
6
7
6
3
0
0
0
0


Fife
8
27
13
12
10
6
17
6
12
0


Grampian
4
8
8
9
10
5
13
24
10
26


Highland and Islands
1
0
0
6
3
5
5
7
10
0


Lothian and Borders
66
34
20
1
12
6
23
17
27
45


Strathclyde 
124
108
97
85
94
73
63
70
69
100


Tayside
25
8
26
8
31
11
24
7
8
12


Scotland2
238
201
175
132
174
119
149
131
157
196



  Source: ODPM.

  Notes:

  1. Excluding incidents not recorded during periods of industrial action in November 2002 and Jan/Feb 2003.

  2. Parts may not add up to totals due to rounding.

Fresh Talent Initiative

Jim Mather (Highlands and Islands) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many individuals have received a visa under the Fresh Talent initiative in its first 12 months, broken down by month and, of those, how many are known to be (a) resident, (b) not resident and (c) in employment in Scotland.

Mr Tom McCabe: Data on numbers of successful applicants to the Fresh Talent: Working in Scotland Scheme (FT:WISS) has now been passed to the Scottish Executive by the Home Office and UKVisas. Successful applications by month are listed in the following table.

  

Month
 


2005
 


June-July
101


August
129


September
141


October
216


November
293


December
294



  

Month
 


2006
 


January
407


February
152


March
89


April
40


May
58


June
60


Total
1,980



  Further information on successful applicants, including their current location and employment status, is being gathered through a questionnaire issued by the Relocation Advisory Service. This data will be published in due course.

Justice

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what proportion of fires in (a) schools, (b) higher education institutions and (c) further education colleges in each of the last 10 years were started deliberately.

Hugh Henry: The information is not available in the format requested.

  The proportion of fires in (a) schools and (b) further and higher education premises that were started deliberately is shown in the following table.

  Deliberate Fires in Schools and Further Education Establishments, Scotland, 1995-2004

  

Percentage of fires that were deliberate
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
20021
20031
2004


Schools
75.6
75.1
64.0
76.5
62.1
56.3
81.2
68.7
52.2
55.1


Further and Higher Education
42.3
31.3
27.8
22.1
32.6
22.4
38.0
19.2
24.1
47.4



  Source: ODPM.

  Note: 1. Excluding incidents not recorded during periods of industrial action in November 2002 and Jan/Feb 2003.

Justice

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what proportion of emergency fire service call-outs to schools in each of the last 10 years resulted from hoax calls.

Hugh Henry: This information is not held centrally.

Law Reform

Colin Fox (Lothians) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to enact sections 25 to 29 of the Law Reform (Miscellaneous Provisions) (Scotland) Act 1990.

Hugh Henry: The Executive announced its decision in principle to commence sections 25-29 of the Law Reform (Miscellaneous Provisions) (Scotland) Act 1990 on 2 March this year. Before commencing these sections, a statutory defect will have to be corrected which we are seeking to do in section 42 of the Legal Profession and Legal Aid (Scotland) Bill . If the Parliament enacts the latter provision, we shall commence sections 25-29 of the 1990 Act shortly thereafter.

Law Reform

Colin Fox (Lothians) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to make legal provisions for "Mackenzie friends" or "people’s attorneys".

Hugh Henry: The Scottish Executive has no current plans to make statutory provision for McKenzie friends or people’s attorneys.

Law Reform

Colin Fox (Lothians) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive what comparative research it has conducted on legal rights of audience between Scotland and other countries.

Hugh Henry: A comparative review of the availability of rights of audience and rights to conduct litigation in Scotland and other key jurisdictions is provided in Chapter 12 of the Executive’s Report by the Research Working Group on the Legal Services Market in Scotland . The report was published on 3 May this year and is available in the Parliament’s Reference Centre (Bib. number 39994).

Law Reform

Colin Fox (Lothians) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it accepts the case for a greater choice in legal representation in Scotland.

Hugh Henry: The Executive’s announcement of its decision in principle to commence sections 25-29 of the Law Reform (Miscellaneous Provisions) (Scotland) Act 1990 is a clear signal of its support for greater choice in legal representation in Scotland, subject to appropriate safeguards for the users of legal services and the courts.

Ministerial Visits

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive which countries ministers and officials plan to visit on official business by the end of (a) December 2006 and (b) June 2007.

Mr Tom McCabe: We announce overseas visits by ministers at appropriate times in advance of the visits’ taking place, bearing in mind programme planning and security considerations, and our discussions with visit hosts. We expect ministers’ visits in coming months to include travel to China, the United States and Brussels. Plans are of course subject to change in response to changing business priorities or if ministers have to be available for parliamentary business.

  No decisions have been taken on ministerial visits after April 2007.

  Officials travel in response to Scottish Executive business needs. No central register is kept of officials’ planned visits. We expect that over the next six months officials’ travel will include visits to Brussels and Finland to deal with EU business.

Scottish parliamentary Corporate Body

Parliament Crèche

Shiona Baird (North East Scotland) (Green): To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body when information leaflets about the Parliament’s public crèche service will be available for MSPs’ wider constituency use.

Duncan McNeil (on behalf of the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body): : An information leaflet is currently produced by Kidcare and is available from the crèche or the Main Hall of the Scottish Parliament.

  The SPCB approved a promotional plan for the crèche on 9 May 9 2006. This includes the production of a promotional flyer. These will be distributed internally and externally from week commencing 24 July.